A pleasant, relaxed 20km with Mawin starting about 0600 in the cool of the morning. Near the end of the ride we went off-road in the jungle...great fun in the wet sand on single-track and no-track.
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After the disappointment, yesterday, of missing a PR by 3 seconds, I decided to give it another go this morning.
Better result...30 seconds under my previous best time for this circuit...this challenge still has legs, though, as I am still 2 1/2 minutes shy of my 1 hour target.
Sometimes how you feel is not an accurate reflection of how you perform. Despite feeling unenthusiastic for riding this morning I pushed hard from the start and took 25 seconds off my best time for the 8km sprint...just a touch off 36kph average speed.
Very pleasant ride. The first 6km were off-road through the Village jungle...earth wet, but not flooded, making the track a pleasure...see pic.
I went a bit further than usual this morning....65 kilometres. I seem to be blessed with lovely roads in all directions, and can invent a circuit at will. I ran out of energy at 50km...up till then I had been cruising along at somewhere close to 30kph, but I finished much slower...perhaps next time I will eat breakfast before heading out.
Did the 48km Prasat City circuit this morning. There was a stiffish breeze blowing...mostly neutral or tail for the trip from home to Prasat, so I made good time with no great effort. The return trip was mostly into the breeze...it was a challenge, but I was still reasonable fresh so was in a mood to push. The result was I managed to knock about 6 minutes off my previous best time for this circuit.
I had a wet road, no breeze from any direction, and rode an even pace around the whole circuit...30.7KPH average over 32km...managed to knock one minute and a half off my best time, so I am closing in on this challenge.
A rare opportunity to ride with the lad. Mawin [13] and his cousin Plaeng [9] rode with me, so we had a gentle roll to Khok Klang and back. The slow pace gave me an opportunity to impart some of my bottomless supply of cycling wisdom...like
*how to relieve a painful bum by standing up on the pedals and using one hand to pull the underpants elastic out of the rut it has created in the cusp between your leg and your bum* :)
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Managed to put something into the back tyre while I was pedalling along a loose gravel road about 8 km from home...I haven't had the bike on this segment before.
There was a small Village on Road 2375, about 1km back, so I walked the bike back there. I moved slowly through the Village, looking for a place that might be in the tyre business, with a dozen dogs venting their annoyance at the stranger in their midst as I went. Soon enough I found a small shop that clearly specialised in fixing motorcycle punctures. I called out, into the empty shop, and soon a middle aged, friendly-faced bloke came out. I explained, by sign language, my problem. His initial reaction was that he had a replacement 26inch tube, but it was too narrow, but I said it will work fine! He helped me fit the new tube, and blow it up...he was interested in my quick release axle, as he had evidently not seen one before. Cost 60baht...about AU$2.50...I gave him 100 baht, and he was delighted! |
About RayI love cycling, whether rolling about in Bangkok or on country lanes. Recently I have also been attracted to bike racing as a means of challenging myself as I mature into that category known as The Elderly. Categories
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